Old Man's War, the debut novel by author John Scalzi, has a lot in common with Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. It is similar enough that the comparisons become natural, yet original enough to be refreshing. As readers of this fine webzine know, though, Starship Troopers is one of my favorite books of all time (as opposed to, you know, favorite books of the week), and thus one could guess that I would like this book as well. Such guesses would be absolutely correct. I really like this book.

(Go read this book! )

The book follows the story of John Perry who, at 75 years old, joins the army. Odd. In this universe, the Earth is isolated and protected by the Colonial Defense Force, who hold a human monopoly on all space travel. The only options to leave the planet are either being chosen as a colonist or by enlisting, once you reach 75. Once you leave, you can't come back. Everyone on Earth believes that the CDF has technology to extend life, but no one knows how. You only find out by enlisting. John, our protagonist, decides that after the death of his wife, he doesn't have anything to lose and signs up.

(Really, go read this book!)

What John encounters is that the Galaxy is not particularly a friendly place, with life-bearing worlds in short supply and a variety of intelligent species all gunning for the same real estate. Throughout training and beyond, he deals with vastly superior technologies than anything he had imagined on Earth, preconceptions that could lead to serious problems, and even situations that question what defines someone as "human".

(I'm not kidding you -- you should go read this book!)

But the book is more about the thoughts and emotions that he has when dealing with these newly-learned galactic truths than about the actual plot itself. This is where the book shows the similarities with Starship Troopers, and where it really shines. John is a very believable character -- the reader becomes attached to him from the beginning and can understand everything he is feeling (even if said reader hasn't lived to 75 years old, married for however many decades before losing a spouse and then signed up for a galactic army). The writing is such that the reader cares greatly about the journey and not as much about the destination (and that's not to say that the over-arching plot isn't interesting by any means -- it is just secondary).

(Trust me, this book is worth reading!)

If you aren't a fan of Starship Troopers, you should still check out this book. There are some differences, such as the fact that Old Man's War is a linear story (no flashbacks). The biggest difference is the lack of political commentary that was inherent in Starship Troopers. Different eras, different books. Old Man's War is much more about the character and the story.

(Feel free to ignore the following paragraph and go read the book instead!)

It's not perfect, though. One big issue I have is that (almost) all of the soldiers were of the 75+ year old variety such as John, and yet there was little that came up about how their life experience helped in the galactic war. There was the feeling (and in some cases explicitly stated) of how everyone had to forget everything they knew and learn the "new reality". That is fine, but that seemed to be too easy (for most people). I would have thought (and did think, throughout reading), that it could have and/or should have been either a) the experience and skills of all these old recruits being utilized in good, clever ways, or b) conflicts caused by all these crotchety old recruits who are stuck in their ways. There were instances of each, but not as consistently throughout the story as I would have preferred.

Besides that, though, the biggest issue with the book? It ended.

(Have you read it yet? What are you waiting for?!)

Bottom line, this is an incredibly well-written novel, with believable characters and a great story. It is obvious to me why it was nominated for the Hugo (not so obvious is why it didn't win!). I enjoyed and appreciated this book more than most I've read in the past several years. Just from this book alone, John Scalzi is now on my "oooh, what's coming out from him next?"-list. You should definitely check it out.

(Now!)

  -- K. Burtt